Self Analysis Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Self Analysis - Personal Statement Example I just wanted to experience the culture of the United States. I had been fascinated by American movies since I was a kid and something just clicked. And thanks to the strong Japanese Yen (not good for our exporters, but good for me); I had more than enough funds. So I spent the next year applying to colleges and planning for the next few years in the United States. The big day finally arrived; I took from the Tokyo Airport and landed in Los Angeles Airport. I was very excited. I had meticulously planned everything, my first visit to the United States was nothing like I expected. It was extremely exciting. My housing was already arranged. It was a house, off campus and I had three room mates, one from California, one from Singapore and one from India. It was a most interesting combination and it seemed we had a little U.N. going. My room mates were very helpful. Naresh from India was pursuing his Masters in Engineering; Li Kwon from Singapore was also doing his Phd in Biotechnology. And Chris Adams from San Diego was a fifth year senior pursuing his degree in liberal Arts. I had already arranged for a purchase and pick up of a car before I left from Tokyo. Chris dropped me of at the dealership. Though I had an international driver's license1, I decided against driving the car out of the dealership that day. I took some driving lessons for a week and got accustomed to driving on the opposite side. Having such a varied group of room mates also was a learning experience and various perspectives. I had taken a few cultural orientation classes in Tokyo before coming here, and there was some preparation given to us to expect a few people in the U.S. (a very small minority of people.) who could be xenophobic or racist. It did stick in my mind; however I could not find these xenophobic racist people at the classes I enrolled for and even at the cafeteria where I joined to work a few hours a week. After the first week I wondered if such people existed or if they were relics of a bygone area. I asked my room mates. Naresh said that most people he met held Indians in high regard. One time someone did yell at him out of a driving car when he was trying to cross the road calling him a "camel jockey" which was slightly misplaced racism as that is a derogatory term for Arabs. Lee Kwon said, he definitely did not encounter any. Chris who was a Caucasian said, generally African Americans encountered a lot of racism, but most of it was overt and not too blatant. It was of course illegal to discriminate on race at work or school. But Chris said an over proportionate percent of the African American Population would be arrested or sent to Prison.2 "There is a long and bitter history between blacks and whites in this country" he said. "Perhaps like between us and the Chinese or us and the Koreans". Both Nar esh and Chris almost exclaimed at the same time, how can you tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese and a Korean. I was taken slightly aback. I told them that the difference between Japanese and Chinese was like between Night and Day. Chinese tended to have smaller features, while the Japanese had a much redder tinge; the Chinese had more of a yellowish tinge. However one day as I was walking in the park, an older gentleman walked by me and just said "go back jap" I was shocked , this gentleman must have been in his eighties, he lived a couple of blocks down